Bad Astronomer Phil Plait notes that the measured rate of the expansion of the universe depends on the method used to track this rate, and that this is a problem.

On Sunday, Caitlin Kelly celebrated receiving her annual cheque from Canada’s Public Lending Program, which gives authors royalties based on how often their book has been borrowed in our public libraries.

In The Buzz, the Toronto Public Library identified five books in its collection particularly prone to be challenged by would-be censors.

D-Brief suggests that, if bacteria managed to survive and adapt in the Atacama desert as it became hostile to life, like life might have done the same on Mars.

Far Outliers notes the crushing defeat, and extensive looting of, the MOghul empire by the Persia of Nader Shah.

Hornet Stories looks at the medal hauls of out Olympic athletes this year in Pyeongchang.

Imageo notes satellite imagery indicating that fisheries occupy four times the footprint of agriculture. Aquaculture is starting to look like a necessary idea, I think.

At In Media Res, Russell Arben Fox praisesPorch Fires, a new biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser, for its insights on Wilder and on the moment of the settlement of the American West.

JSTOR Daily notes how, in the 19th century after the development of anesthesia, the ability to relieve people of pain was a political controversy. Shouldn’t it be felt, wasn’t it natural?

Language Hat links to an article taking a look behind the scenes at the Oxford English Dictionary. How does it work? What are its challenges?

At Lingua Franca, Roger Shuy distinguishes between different kinds of speech events and explains why they are so important in the context of bribery trials.

The LRB Blog shares some advice on ethics in statecraft from the 2nd century CE Chinese writer Liu An.

J. Hoberman at the NYR Daily reviews an exhibit of the work of Bauhaus artist Jozef Albers at the Guggenheim.

Roads and Kingdoms shares an anecdote of travellers drinking homemade wine in Montenegro.

The Counterfactual History Review takes/u> a look at the plausibility of Wakanda, as a society, and finds it holds up. (There’s something to be said about having the problems of one’s own society being indigenous, not imposed by colonizers.)

This article takes a look at the interest of Lesotho, a mountainous kingdom of southern Africa that was never quite fully colonized, on the idea of Wakanda.

What is the relationship of Wakanda to Africa and the wider black diaspora? This article makes an argument. (Spoilers.)

Queer representation in Wakanda is a real thing. All the more frustrating, then, if it is not quite realized.

The Toronto Public Library’s The Buzz points readers to more comics exploring Black Panther and Wakanda.

Vulture takes a look at Christopher Priest, the writer who helped make Black Panther the character he is today more than a decade ago but then disappeared.

Inspired by Finland’s Olympic team, the Toronto Public Library’s The Buzz shares some interesting books on knitting and for knitters.

Centauri Dreams notes the surprising news that the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies actually have the same mass. This changes everything about what was thought about the future of the Local Group. D-Brief also reports on this news.

JSTOR Daily notes how the conversion of tobacco fields into solar farms is not just potentially life-saving but economically viable, too.

Language Hat rounds up links relevant to the discovery, by field linguists, of the Malaysian language of Jedek.

Lingua Franca, at the Chronicle of Higher Education, shares a story from Lucy Ferris of Paris of old and the bookstore Shakespeare and Company.

The LRB Blog notes that the privatization of military officers’ housing in the United Kingdom was another disaster.

Marginal Revolution considers if Los Angeles is the most right-wing major American city, and what that actually means.

The Power and the Money’s Noel Maurer notes that, even in the face of subsidence in Groningen around gas fields and cheap wind energy, even the Netherlands is not moving away from oil and gas.

Drew Rowsome reports on porn star/actor Chris Harder and his new show, Porn To Be A Star. (NSFW.)

Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel examines the factors which distinguish a good scientific theory from a bad one.

The Volokh Conspiracy makes a decent argument that the politicized pop culture fandom around supreme court judge Ruth Bader Ginsberg is not good for the future of jurisprudence.